Wednesday Link List

Welcome to yet another installment of “Let’s see what everybody else is doing online.” Actually there are some really strong links here this week, you won’t be disappointed, but I think both guys in the above cartoon are going to be.

• Our lead link this week isn’t lighter fare. The Dictionary of Christianese worked hard to provide you with the meaning of all things kairos, such as kairos time, kairos season, kairos opportunity and kairos moment.
• Todd Rhoades invites you to play: Who Said It? Oprah or Osteen? Before peeking at the answers, why not phone a friend or use this as a small group icebreaker.
• Jamie the Very Worst Fundraiser admits that some of the pictures — and descriptive language — you see in missionary letters may not be entirely representative of what is taking place on the mission field. Partner with someone to read this. 
• The church once known as the Crystal Cathedral will be renamed Christ Cathedral, while the people who once worshiped at the Crystal Cathedral will gather under the name Shepherd’s Grove.
• The Christian teen whose song Clouds recently reached 3 million YouTube views, Zach Sobiech, died Monday surrounded by family at his home in Lakeland, Minnesota. He was 18.  
• As of last night, Oklahoma pastor Craig Groeschel reported that 71 families from Lifechurch had lost their homes.
  
• At Parchment and Pen, perhaps the reason many adolescents and young adults have faith collapses is because they aren’t properly conditioned on dealing with doubts. Must reading for Christian parents. 
• Also for parents: If you’re wondering what to do with your teens (or tweens) over the summer, you won’t be after reading this list.
  
• Catholic readers should note that there are some rosaries on the market that aren’t exactly kosher.  William Tapley guides you to spotting the iffy prayer beads.
• This just in: “No man whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may enter the Lord’s assembly.” Actually, it’s in Deuteronomy. A must-read for guys.
  
• A music therapist at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville gets kids to write songs, and then gets the songs recorded by the city’s best. A seven minute documentary; keep the tissues handy. (Love what the kid said who had a song covered by Amy Grant!)
• Pastors’ Corner: What if your weekend sermon was more like a TED Talk? Could you deliver the same content in 18 minutes or less? 
• So in a debate of house churches over traditional churches who wins?  This article includes discussion of The Meeting House in Canada which reflects the best of both.  (Be sure to continue to page two.)
  
• Graphic of he week: A conversation at the atheist’s car garage.
• Top selling Christian music in the UK this week is the band Rend Collective Experiment, according to a new music chart service there.
  
• …And graphics for your Facebook or Tumblr each week at Happy Monday at The Master’s Table.
• The subject of the Soul Surfer book and movie after losing an arm to a shark while surfing, Bethany Hamilton is getting married.
  
• My video upload this week for Searchlight Books — sponsor of our Christian classics collection — was a scratchy 45-rpm single of Roger McDuff (the gospel music guy) doing Jesus is a Soul Man circa 1969. To get on this YouTube channel, the songs have to not be previously uploaded.
  
• Baptist book publisher Broadman and Holman aka B&H wants to stop publishing fiction in 2014 unless the book in question can have a tie-in with Lifeway curriculum product or other brand merchandise.
  
• Ron Fournier aka Tehophilus Monk has a short excerpt from the book Why Priests? by Gary Wills which calls into question the entire concept of priests in the ecclesiastic hierarchy.
• We can’t do it by ourselves. Sometimes we need Outside Help. Classic pop/rock some of you might remember from Johnny Rivers.
  
• Not enough links for ya this week? Dave Dunham’s got another 15 for you at Pastor Dave Online. 
• During the week between link lists, I invite you to join my somewhat miniscule band of Twitter followers.
  
• The lower graphic this week is from an article at the youth ministry blog Learning My Lines.
  

Wednesday Link List

“For what we are about to receive…”  The human and the dog seem sincere but cats are always overly dramatic. (And why does the cat have a marking that looks like another cat’s tail? Photoshop? No way!)

Time for another link list. Try to have your suggestions in by 6:00 PM Eastern on Mondays. More during the week at Twitter.

• Hey! We finally made the Church Relevance list of the Top 200 Ministry Blogs, at number 143. Now what will I complain about? A giant shout-out to Kent Shaffer at Church Relevance.
• From the weekend: Best Mother’s Day graphic.
• Michael Patton notes that while Calvinists uphold ‘perseverance of the saints,’ he often encounters some among that group that lack assurance of salvation.
  
• At Red Letter Christians: The Six Worst Things About American Christianity. Wait, there’s only six?
  
• I once heard that Billy Graham once said his calling to ministry was simply that he was trying to do what Charles Templeton started but never finished. That, and the fact my father once served in ministry with Templeton draws me to articles like this one whenever they appear.
• Do-Not-Do-This Department: BibleDude offers six ways to ruin a mission trip.
• Does Greg Boyd think that, despite their different beliefs about Jesus, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are saved? Check out this five minute video.
  
• Diane Lindstrom offers a six-part series on The Sneaky Sins. (The link is to the intro, then click the banner and scroll through malice, deceit, hyprocisy, envy and slander.)
  
• Recurring theme: This time in Northern Ireland, another printer is threatened with court action over refusing to print material that goes against his beliefs.
• This week at Rachel Held Evans, we were introduced to a young Assemblies of God pastor Jonathan Martin (that’s two links to RHE.) And here’s a short preaching sample.
  
• Dannah Gresh does a TED Talk at Penn State University on the subject of virginity.
  
• A blogger calls into question the youth ministry concept, in light of areas where he feels it has failed us.
  
• A former pastor and church planter now finds himself roaming among various churches and offers ten observations now that he’s not an insider.
• “I know who made the environment,” Mark Driscoll reportedly said. “He’s coming back, and he’s going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV.”  More in a Religion New Service piece comparing Driscoll to Pat Robertson.
  
• Music video link # 1: Two years ago we did a story here on a Nepalese worship band, Aradhna. I was going to run a link to something more recent, but opted instead for one of their earlier videos which includes English translation.
• Music video link #2: If this hadn’t existed I would have added it to my own YouTube channel. Classic Maranatha! Music worship as Erick Nelson sings Fairest Lord Jesus.  This was posted a few months ago and has only seen a handful of views. Let’s change that.
• Music video link #3: Classic British TV footage of Cliff Richard covering Randy Stonehill’s First Prayer. Whether or not you believe in “praying the prayer;” this is a type of song that models Christian behavior; a type of song we just don’t hear anymore.
• Music video link #4: From our own channel, the 1988 kids album with no kids, Prism Red rocks out Amazing Grace. Heck, let’s add it below.
• From @philvischer ‘s Twitter: “Got a Groupon ad for a 3-pack of ‘Jezebel Panties.’ Yes, the most evil woman in the Bible now has her own line of underwear.”
  
• New blogs added to my 700+ bookmarks this week: The Nuance with Zach J. Hoag and a multi-author blog, Christian Blessings.
• Looking for more links? Ed Cyzewski offers five posts from Christian blogs you’ve never seen.
  

Songs with substance: Classic worship

If you check the right hand margin over at Christianity 201, you’ll see that all of the various music resources that have appeared there are listed and linked alphabetically. Take a moment to discover — or re-discover — some worship songs and modern hymns from different genres.

Wednesday Link List

This is the link list that the other blogs get their links from after we got them from them in the first place.

It’s a safe bet that neither party purchasing space on the above billboards were aware of the other’s presence.  Or is it?

• Ravi Zacharias responds to the Boston tragedy and all the issues it raises.
• And did you read about the Boston Marathon Saint; the guy who gave away his medal?
  
• In New Zealand you can name your baby girl Faith, Hope, or Charity, but not Justice. It’s one of a number of banned names.
• It’s got endorsements from Eric Metaxas, Ann Voskamp, Paul Young and Russell D. Moore. But is The Little Way of Ruthie Leming a title that would be considered a Christian book?
  
• It’s not every day that a Christian school science test makes the pages of snopes.com, but then again you haven’t seen a test like this one.
  
• Wanna know more about the Apocrypha, those extra books in the Roman Catholic Bible? Check out this podcast. (Click the link that says “Play in Pop-Up.) (Technically these are the deuterocanonical books, the term apocrypha can include other writings.)
• And after adding that I found an article of a type that many of us would never see: A Roman Catholic blogger’s apologetic for the Catholic canon of scripture. (Which is by default very anti-Protestant canon.) 
• If you read Christian blogs, you know the word ‘missional.’ Now here’s a reading list of the top 40 books on the subject.
• Usually writers have to push their publishers for cool book trailers. This 2-minute video for Jon Stuff Christians Like Acuff’s book Start was a gift from a reader.
  
• Quote of the week: “I knew what abortion was before I knew where babies came from. ” ~ Rachel Held Evans writing about a prominent US news story about an abortion doctor that isn’t playing much here in Canada or on the news elsewhere.
  
• Also at RHE, Jennifer Knapp responds to some great questions from readers with some great answers. Sample: “I think it’s often overlooked, is that CCM’s genre is not a style of music, but rather it is a very specific message.” Quotation of the type you’re probably more interest in: “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ can be an acceptable working environment for some, but has also been used as legitimate financial weapon at times to enforce individual silence in exchange for job security.”  (Also, JK previously here at Thinking…)
• And going three-for-three with RHE (it rhymes, too) here’s an interview she did with Christianity Today.
  
• And for something much shorter than those articles on Rachel’s blog: Greg Atkinson on what pastors can learn from country music.
• Here’s a pastor’s nightmare: When your small church is essentially a one man show.
• Is your church looking for a pastor? Here’s ten signs your search isn’t going well.  Sample: Average time between sending in application and receiving rejection notice: 5-7 minutes.
  
• Catholics are borrowing a page from Mormons, JWs and Evangelicals and doing door-to-door ministry. Advice to participants: Trying to provide too many facts about the Church may cause misunderstandings.
• Here’s a fun 5-minute video for pastors wanting to develop their homiletic skills using a technique called preaching by ear. (A sales pitch follows.)
• And wrapping up our ministry links, should a pastor know how much individuals give financially?
  
• At a certain point (i.e. after the second chorus) this Eddie Kirkland song always reminds me of Coldplay.
• Going to a summer wedding? You might want to look around at a critical moment so you don’t miss the best part of the processional.
  
• Tony Jones loves Greg Boyd (no, not that way) and thinks you should also.
  
• From the people who brought you the Top 200 Christian Blogs list, The Top 200 Christian Seminaries.

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Wednesday Link List

The week in review:

• Russell D. Moore shares an audio interview with Shai Linne, writer and performer of the song that names names, Fal$e Teacher$. 
• Almost every church has them. Challenged people who show up and even volunteer, but you’re always wondering if they get the big picture message. 
• A couple in Pennsylvania that believes in faith healing, but not in medicine have lost custody of their children and now face new charges in the death of one of them.
  
• Despite offers of up to $15.7 million (US), churches in Atlanta have second thoughts about moving to make way for a new football stadium.
• Shane Hipps guested at Greg Boyd’s church on the weekend. Enjoyed every one of the 46 minutes of his sermon, Two Kinds of Life. (Also available on audio.)
  
• This is a link to a series of links in a series that you should at least glance at the outline: The ten commandments of apologetics.
• I don’t usually mention it, but I listen to Nadia Bolz-Weber every week, but Internet Monk also recommends this Good Shepherd Sunday sermon, after going through a week it’s hard to be a shepherd.
• Ben Witherington explains some of his reasons for embracing the Wesleyan approach to Christian theology.
  
• How post-Christian are you? The actual questions behind the Barna report that ranked cities in the United States.
• Jon Acuff offers a link to a free download of the first chapter of his new book Start, available at your local Christian bookstore.  
• I decided to opt for a more fashionable Twitter handle @PaulW1lk1nson; links from here have been updated.

Christian music industry faces critical shortage of album titles; our reporters are investigating

Wednesday Link List

Our opening graphic is from the blog Abandoned to God. 

** Derek Webb, All Sons and Daughters, Robbie Seay Band, Charlie Hall, Shane & Shane and Shaun Groves are among the 45 artists on #SongsForWest, a fundraising album download for West, Texas with a suggested $10 donation.**

Here’s this weeks links:

• Opening Link: A pastor and his wife in Watertown, MA are caught in the middle of a shootout in the wake of the Boston bombings. “We were trapped, with active gunfire on three sides of our home.”
• Here’s another new movie to be aware of, opening in US theaters on Friday: King’s Faith. 
• Watch (or listen to) a great sermon by Gary Burge preached midweek at Willow Creek a few weeks ago.  Check out Acts 11:1–18. Once you’re 5 minutes in, I guarantee you’ll want to finish.
  
• An journalist who had originally interviewed Megan Phelps-Roper in 2011 before her departure from Westboro Baptist Church offered some additional detail and updates on her story.
• This one is disturbing. Seems that people serving at Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church are being asked to sign some type of loyalty/confidentiality agreement, with legal consequences if you break the contract. Never criticize your pastor.
  
• A Minneapolis preacher is still in the pulpit at age 105. “Noah Smith has no plans to retire — ever. He said he tried that once when he was 90 and it didn’t work out too well.”
• Here’s how one church kid defines his faith. But if you’re in Christian Education or Youth Ministry, his response is somewhat disappointing. 
• By contrast, here’s Greg Koukl at Stand To Reason with a 7-minute video describing an appropriate response to the question, What is Christianity? (He actually gets to it at the 2:40 mark.)
  
• For those can’t enough of blogging, here’s the direct link to Faith Village’s Java Juice Blog House which we featured here a few days ago…
• …And if you’ve got friends investigating Christianity or just starting out, here’s Faith Village’s Square One.
• Pete Wilson’s Cross Point Church has a daughter church in India which he tries to visit as regularly as possible. Last week he suddenly learned his visa was denied, and he was summoned to India’s embassy in Washington, DC. Now he’s been granted a six-month visa, which isn’t quite the 5-year one he had…
• …And here’s a 2-minute audio clip on YouTube of Pete discussing people who leave his church, or arrive from somewhere else because they weren’t being fed.
  
• After ten years of keeping us aware on several social issue fronts, veteran Christian blogger La Shawn Barber moves on to other platforms. 
• Your church needs to rethink tithing options in a world where nobody writes checks (or in some countries, cheques) anymore.
  
• Our blog discovery of the week is Anabaptistly. Established in Spring 2011, recent activity includes a number of Eugene Peterson quotations like this one.
• Another blogger notes audience reaction to the movie 42. 
• The people who use GodTube sure like music reality show clips from X-Factor or [Name of Country]‘s Got Talent. Here Simon Cowell is led to believe a man is going to impersonate a whole choir.
• If homeschoolers aren’t already over-represented on social media, now they have their own theme song.
  
• Yea! We made another Top 200 Ministry blogs list!
• More links all week on Twitter.
  
• Finally, in our Truth is Stranger Than Fiction department, Jamie The Very Worst Missionary is breaking all her own rules and going on a women’s retreat. Say it isn’t so!
  

A closing word from Francis Chan:

Wednesday Link List

Wednesday List Lynx

Lots of good stuff this week. Take the time!

• The Seventh Day Adventist Church is celebrating a 150-year anniversary, though as a group that believed in very immanent return of Jesus, the anniversary is a bit of an embarrassment.
• Clay Gentry goes really deep on those “phantom” scripture verses, including some principles many people think are contained in the Bible but aren’t…
  
• …And here are two other verses you know well which the author of this article says technically don’t exist the way you know them.
  
• When the leader of a seminar on marriage is asked how many times a week a couple should be intimate, it’s probably safest not to give a direct answer.
• Sorry to learn of the passing yesterday of Billy Graham crusade soloist George Beverly Shea. He was 104 years old. Yes, 104. “I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today…”
  
• Know someone in ministry who is in their 60s but has the outlook of a 30-year old? Or someone who is 40 going on 75? The Leadership magazine What’s Your Ministry Age? survey from 2009 is still online!
  
• Song of the Week: How about an Indian flavor for How Great Thou Art.
• Readers weigh in on a concern about a woman who dresses inappropriately at both church and her work as a middle school teacher.
  
• Ever heard of the TLV? It stands for Tree of Life Bible.  Guess you don’t read Bible Hunter. Much more info there on obscure Bibles, be sure to look around.
• Speaking of Bible translations, here’s five questions that I guarantee some KJV-Only advocates can’t answer.
  
• This is weird. An entire blog seemingly devoted to frustration over Tim Challies’ penchant for possibly deleting more blog comments than he accepts. Or so it seems to that blogger.
• Rob Bell is blogging. Well, that would be too mainstream, it’s actually a tumblr. 
• Our son Chris sent us a demo of a song he recorded a few months back.  Click here to listen to Afraid and click “show more” in the description to see the lyrics.
  
• Homeschooling: Two items — Why more people are homeschooling and a theory on why the U.S. administration wants to deport the German homeschoolers.
• A UK church offers hymns and readings for iPad over the church’s wifi for the visually impaired.  (HT) 
• The book isn’t brand new, but here’s a review of When Helping Hurts a title growing in popularity as it seriously studies the short term missions industry.
• Canadian street preacher Nathan Colquhoun guests on Moody Radio’s Up for Debate show.
  
• Pensacola Christian College sued one of its alumni over an internet domain name. This from a college that teaches Christians aren’t supposed to resolve disputes in court. 
• Later this year, a hymnal printed in 1640 could get $30 Million (US) at auction.  It could be the first book ever printed in what is now the United States. 
• There was a link list here on Sunday… please visit and add your comment re. the graphic at the bottom.
• Why wait ’til next Wednesday? Follow me on Twitter.
  

About the Blogroll: This blog has a rather interesting link list in the sidebar. Blogs mentioned are chosen because they are (a) faith focused and (b) posting regularly. The doctrinal flavor of the blogs listed is quite varied, but I don’t include blogs that appear to have more “agenda” than content. Some blogs are listed somewhat permanently, some disappear and return a month later. Together, they represent almost one fifth of the bloggers that I have bookmarked in my computer and read regularly. Some of the blogs appearing in the Wednesday link list end up on this page later on, while others have a key post that I feel is worth mentioning, while at the same time I haven’t gotten to know them well enough yet to establish them as a link or imply endorsement. Recommendations are invited.

Weekend Link List

A handful of things have gained a lot of traction over the weekend that should probably be dealt with here instead of waiting until Wednesday.  If you read other Christian blogs, none of this will be new, but I wanted my regular readers to be up to speed.

• The first is the death of Brennan Manning. He authored The Ragamuffin Gospel and Abba’s Child and at least 20 other books.  Here’s a beautiful tribute from a blog which takes its name in part from Brennan’s inspiration. If you don’t know of him, here’s a set of quotations I compiled from his writing a little more than a year ago.

• We also learned this weekend of the earlier passing a week ago of another prolific author, Christian apologist and radio host Dave Hunt.  He was the author of over 30 books.

• Unless this is the only Christian blog you read — for which we’re grateful, by the way — you can’t have missed hearing about a rap song video by Shai Linne in which he calls out the names of prominent televangelists he believes to be False Teacher$. Having said that, I can’t find a YouTube version of the song with stats commensurate to the articles about the song. Maybe televangelists are no longer all that interesting, but it took courage to name names.

• What is without a doubt truly viral is a letter “to the church” that appeared on the blog of a gay young person who “misses you.” Here’s a key line: ““When I was at church, they taught me something else: if you preach hate at the service, those words aren’t anointed. That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned.”  By the time you read this it is closing in on 2,300 comments!  Here’s the letter.  And here’s a response from a Christian blogger.

So many other links in the vault, but we’ll have to save some for Wednesday.  You can also follow me on Twitter.

Today’s lower graphic is a bit of a curiosity. It’s a warning to epileptics from the bottom of the page of a church bulletin from North Point Community Church (Andy Stanley) in Atlanta. I’m not sure if the warning about the church lighting system appears weekly or if this was a one-off situation. I’ve always thought the lighting at North Point resembles high school dances I attended, but they’re not the only church to do this type of thing. And what if someone misses the warning?  Comments on this topic appreciated.

Wednesday Link List

I’m a success at blogging but a failure at Twitter. Please follow me… please?

Any one of this week’s links could have been its own feature article.  By the way, I’m organizing a travel opportunity that begins in a Wesleyan college in western New York and ends in Jerusalem. I call it the Israel Houghton Tour.

• Apostles, Pastors and Teachers, etc., oh my! But maybe the early church didn’t regard this model the way we do.
• Hey, why can’t we all just get along? Can Christians disagree without things getting nasty? 
• Related: Controversy is not a virtue.
  
• Here’s a point for campus recruiters to mention: You can pack heat (concealed carry) at Liberty University.
• Getting to know our neighbors is important. Here’s 15 characteristics of today’s non-churched person. 
• A great modern parable teaching you why a burnt offering is of no utility or value to anyone.  
• Depression is becoming more prevalent. Here’s a lengthy article on the role churches can play in healing.
• Bono unleashes his inner-nerd at TED 2013 with an avalanche of stats on the world poverty situation.
  
• Longtime street apologist Tony Miano is confronted by a man who hates God, who he claims does not exist.
  
• There’s a massive difference between inviting someone to your church and bringing someone to your church.
• Just married, or married a long time? Here’s 5 reasons why your marriage needs church.
  
• From Brant at AIR1: You’re not raising kids to develop their skill set; you’re raising them to develop their character. 
• A discernment blog expresses concern over Holman Publishing’s decision to insert an article by Calvin Miller into their KJV editions.
  
• No specific page link here, just an entire blog for men, especially those confronting purity issues. Check out Iron Strikes – Men Forging Men.
  
• What’s causing church attendance to take a hit? Some say it’s children’s sports.
  
• Going deeper into the story: A suggestion as to why post-resurrection  Jesus ate fish with his disciples. 
• Dealing with mental spam: Are our filters biased? 
• Finally the question all of you keep writing and asking, Where are Rob Bell’s glasses?   (We stole this last link from Challies, but decided not to also steal this one.)
  

Wednesday Link List

Not new, but too good just to link; you have to watch this…

• Edith Shaeffer, wife of the late Christian philosopher Francis Shaeffer, has died at age 98. 
• A member of The Church on the Way in Valencia,CA — and grandson of Jack Hayford, the church’s founder — is now back home uninjured after being kidnapped last week in Mexico.
• Singer Carrie Underwood and NHL hockey player Mike Fisher discuss their shared faith in Jesus.
• Know the song “‘Tis a Gift To Be Simple”?  Terry Mattingly says that definitely applies to the new Pope.
• Yes the Easter story really happened in a real place, and if you want, you can even get the GPS coordinates.
• And did they play that “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a-Coming” video at your church this week? Here’s the text for all you aspiring preachers to give it your best shot.
• And don’t miss this story about church pyrotechnics gone awry. This could have ended very badly.
  
• Also at Parchment Pen: Did the author of the Gospel of Mark sleep in the nude?  The public wants to know.
• Sandy Patti is headlining at Carnegie Hall with the Manhattan Pops Orchestra and the pianist formerly (and still) known simply as Dino.
• For 32 years, Rick Warren said ‘no’ to the idea of doing a radio show. But then a year ago…
• A friend of ours, Rick Webster, pastor of The Third Space church in Peterborough has written Introducing Jesus — but he doesn’t use the word pastor, preferring Spiritual Wilderness Guide and Community Architect. We don’t normally do this here, but you can order the book online. 
• From the artist who brought us the Reimagine song, a cover of Larry Norman’s UFO song.
  
• Canadian author and blogger Sheila Wray-Gregoire says that if you are concerned for someone, you need to ask yourself three questions before you say anything.
• Another Elevation Church high-tech year end summary. Does your church’s annual report look like this?
  
• Maybe some cartoonists can illustrate complex issues, but Dave Walker finds himself somewhat lost for ideas in Uganda. 
• Okay, Doug Wilson, curiosity was killing me when you wrote Good Friday and the Death of Same Sex Envy. (And then he also discusses pattern recognition, too.)
  
• Shauna Niequist is the wife of a Christian musician and daughter of a world famous pastor. And a published author.  But she still deals with jealousy.
• Money Where Your Mouth Is Department: Michael Kelley offers us two things we can learn from the Veronica Mars movie campaign on Kickstarter.
  
• How about another 30-or-so links, all on the subject of apologetics? And don’t miss the first comment. 
• Blog flashback — one year ago: James MacDonald’s holiness test.
  
• The latest addition to our “lost song” collection at YouTube is this original version of God and Man at Table by Craig Smith. 
• And I didn’t realize until today how much this song and this song sound alike. Guess some classic gospel music or CCM just flies under the copyright radar.
  

Wednesday Link List

Our opening image this week apparently dates back to the mid ’90s and was sourced on a Dutch website whose name translates approximately as End Time Space. Click the image to link.

Several possible links for this week were important enough to become their own posts here. Be sure to check back at topics covered since Thursday.

• First, please consider following my Twitter feed; not because of my great wisdom, but because I’m following some other really cool people. 
• The radio host of “Canada’s most listened-to spiritual talkback show,” Drew Marshall takes to television this weekend. 
• Is the Pope Catholic?  This blogger dares to ask: Is the Pope born again? 
• Here’s a good breakdown of pastor blogs fitting into ten (or eleven!) categories. Actually, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Just in time for Passover, the Maccabeats are back.
  
• If you or someone you know has been involved in a marital affair, here’s a reminder to skip the what questions and look at the why questions.
• This week the Dictionary of Christianese defines Godincidences. (They’re like God Winks.)
  
• This has been around for awhile, but if you haven’t watched this timely 3-minute video, check out Peter Rollins’ I Deny The Resurrection. 
• A Canadian Mennonite pastor is dealing with a couple of strange baptism requests: “They don’t know much about Jesus, but they want to come to him, to sign up to follow, even though they don’t have much of an idea what they are getting into.”
  
• One hundred and eleven podcasts later, and you can still listen to episodes of A Christian and An Atheist.
• Here’s a good analysis on how the church should multiply (real growth) instead of simply poaching (transfer growth) from other churches.
• And on that same blog we found a link to a piece on how tradition(s) can trump what Jesus explicitly taught. 
• Know a single who is saving their first kiss? You might identify with this video trailer, but trailer for what? (Found at TWW.)
  
• Russell Moore is asked whether or not reading fiction is a waste of time. He answers that fiction can  “awaken parts of us that we have calloused over.”
• And congrats to Russell on his new title with the SBC.
• Pete Wilson and Cross Point Church have invaded downtown Nashville. Their new church building opened this past Sunday.
• For gay Christians, the F-word is fear.  Read this two part post starting with the article and then, especially the author’s story.
  
• Pastors’ Corner: Five sources of ministry distractions, including Platform Jacking and Funny Money.
• If you’re thinking of being in Vancouver, British Columbia from July 29 to August 2, 2013, you could sign up for this business ethics course.
  
• When you are trying to make it as a writer, a rejection letter can be crushing, and create a need to reaffirm your calling.